What Is Autism?

Cognition and Development – Autism

In this course, Professor Peter Mitchell (University of Nottingham) explores the condition of autism. In the first lecture, we think about what autism is. In the second lecture, we examine the causes of autism. In the third lecture, we look at the question ‘Can autism be cured?’. Next, we consider whether autism is an affective or a cognitive condition. In the fifth lecture, we think about different cognitive theories of autism. In the sixth and final lecture, we take a closer look at a specific cognitive theory of autism, known as the theory of ‘weak central coherence’.

What Is Autism?

In this lecture, we think about what autism is and how it has been understood by researchers and medical professionals over the past century, focusing in particular on: (i) the current definition of autism as a developmental disorder in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5); (ii) Wing and Gould’s (1978) influential description of autism as a ‘triad of impairments’ encompassing impaired imagination, impaired communication and restricted interests; (iii) the work of Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger, two influential clinicians who first defined and diagnosed the condition of autism in the 1940s; (iv) the prevalence of autism among the general population; (v) some thoughts on the need for society to adapt to those of its members who have the condition of autism.